Costco Wholesale is putting the focus on four organic suppliers

A salad made with pomegranate seeds, Italian cheese, Campari Tomatoes and Organic Spring Mix from Earthbound Farm, one of the four organic suppliers featured in the Costco Connection magazine.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Earthbound Farm Organic harvests 48,000 crop acres each year (the amount of harvests you get off a single acre).

Coleman Natural Foods, another Costco Wholesale supplier, has been raising antibiotic-free chickens for 140 years, and organic chicken since 2001.

Aurora Organic Dairy's organic cows receive no antibiotics or hormones, and must be fed 100% organic feed and have access to the outdoors.

The cover story in the January 2015 issue of The Costco Connection magazine profiles four of its organic suppliers -- "Growing Organic: A seedling market rises to mainstream."

The fourth Costco supplier is Stemilt Growers, a Washington State harvester of organic apples.

Earthbound Farm

The oldest of Costco's organic suppliers is Earthbound Farm, which provided its first packaged salad greens to the warehouse chain in 1992.

Every week, I buy a 1-pound package of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix at my Hackensack Costco for $4.99 or less, compared to $6.99 or more in a supermarket.

In 2005, I paid $3.99 for the same triple-washed organic salad at Costco.  

The more organic, the better

Costco members have seen the selection of organic foods grow over the years, and it's clear they are from many suppliers, not just the four profiled in the magazine.

It's possible to serve a complete organic meal from Costco, using organic chicken, organic brown rice or quinoa with organic diced tomatoes, and organic salad dressed with organic extra-virgin olive oil.

"Simply put, certified organic foods have been farmed without synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertizers, and do not use genetically modified organisms (GMOs)," The Costco Connection says.

Costco also sells non-organic products that are GMO free.

I fried two organic eggs from Costco Wholesale in Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. A 54-ounce jar was $17.49 at my Hackensack Costco.

Organic-spinach smoothie

My wife brought home a pound of organic baby spinach from Costco ($4.49), and blended it into a smoothie with apple juice, pineapple and banana.

She also bought 5.5 pounds of Organic Gala Apples from Washington State at Costco ($9.99).

I fried two organic eggs from Costco in Organic Coconut Oil, which left behind a distinct taste of coconut. 

I served the eggs over leftover organic quinoa I had prepared in an electric cooker with organic diced tomatoes, both from Costco.